The objective of mass merchandisers is to display as much product as possible in a given amount of floor space. This allows the merchandiser to carry a wide variety of merchandise. Mass merchandisers do this in the hope that the shopper will not have to go to any other store to fulfill any consumer needs.
It is well known that shelving is commonly used to display the merchandise. It is also well known that the shelving is typically positioned and dimensioned so as to maximize the amount of merchandise displayed in any given area of floor space while allowing shoppers to easily view the merchandise and still meet any local regulations such as fire codes.
Another common method of displaying merchandise is the use of the rotatable, stand-alone, floor display racks such as those on which ceiling fan pulls, postcards, greeting cards, key chains, and comic books are displayed. These racks typically stand alone and require extra floor space. Mass merchandisers may be prohibited from carrying merchandise which uses this type of display because of a lack of the required floor space. In addition, these racks usually have a base and/or legs which prohibit their use on existing shelving.
Another drawback is that these rotatable, stand-alone, floor display racks usually only stand 6 to 8 feet high which is lower than the height of most mass merchandisers' ceilings or existing shelving. Thus, these racks do not allow the greatest amount of merchandise possible to be displayed in the amount of floor space that such a rack takes up. As such, a mass merchandiser may refuse to carry a product if the manufacturer offers no alternate method of display to the rotatable, stand-alone, floor display rack.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved display rack capable of being supported by existing facilities such as a shelving unit, a suspended ceiling or a floor.
Further, it is an object of the present invention to provide such an improved display rack which is easily deployed and inexpensive.